In brief: S&P 500 notches a monthly gain

Staples Inc. CEO Ron Sargent is seen during an interview in his office in Framingham, Mass., Wednesday, March 5, 2003. Staples Inc., office supply chain, reported fourth-quarter net income of $165 million, or 35 cents per share, beating the expectations of analysts. (AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki)

Staples Inc. CEO Ron Sargent is seen during an interview in his...

wall street

S&P 500achieves gain for month

NEW YORK - U.S. stock indexes struggled to a mixed close Tuesday as energy companies fell with the price of oil, overcoming gains in utilities and phone companies. Still the S&P 500 climbed 1.5 percent in May, its third straight monthly gain. The Dow Jones industrial average also had a monthly gain.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Great Plains Energy on Tuesday announced plans to buy rival Westar for about $8.6 billion, creating one large power provider in Kansas and Missouri with more than 1.5 million customers.

The two companies say the combination will lower their costs and help reduce rate increases.

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Kansas City-based Great Plains Energy owns Kansas City Power & Light, which provides power in Kansas and Missouri, while Westar's customers are in Kansas.

Investing

Icahn purchases 'large' stake in Botox maker

NEW YORK - Activist investor Carl Icahn says he bought a "large" stake in Botox-maker Allergan and said he's supportive of the company's CEO, Brent Saunders.

Icahn did not disclose how much of a stake he bought. Allergan acknowledged the investment Tuesday and said that it has "no reason to believe" that Icahn wants to influence management or control the company.

retail

Staples says its chief executive officer is leaving

NEW YORK - Staples says Ron Sargent will step down as chief executive after 14 years. His departure follows Staples and rival Office Depot dropping their $6.3 billion merger in May after antitrust regulators opposed it. Staples director Robert Sulentic said that the board and Sargent agreed that it was time for new management to help Staples grow after the deal's collapse.

Consumers

General Mills recalls 10 million pounds of flour

General Mills is recalling about 10 million pounds of its flour over a possible link to an E. coli outbreak in 20 states.

The recall is for several varieties of Gold Medal and Signature Kitchens flour that were sold at Safeway, Albertsons, Randalls and other supermarkets. General Mills said E. coli hasn't been found in any of its flour products but is still recalling them out of "an abundance of caution."

The company said Tuesday 38 people were sickened from mid-December through May 3. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that half of the people used flour before getting sick, some of which was a General Mills brand.

in other NEWS

The Treasury Department auctioned $31 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.340 percent, down from 0.350 percent last week. Another $26 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at 0.475 percent, down from 0.480 percent.

The Federal Reserve said that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills rose to 0.68 percent last week from 0.62 percent.